Crimes and Mythdemeanors
by Mahler Avatar
Summary: It's October 31st during Kim and Ron's senior year, and they discover some strange goings-on during the annual costume party at the Middleton Institute of Science and Technology. Rated T for why Kim and Ron can handle unicorns, but Shego can't ...
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Kim Possible is owned by Disney, but any new characters are totally my fault …_

* * *

_October 31st, 7:45 pm._

"Hurry up, Ron! We're going to be late!" Kim's patience was wearing thin as Ron struggled with his Fearless Ferret costume.

"No worries, KP! I've almost got it ... almost …"

A huge ripping sound revealed that Ron was still far from getting it. It also revealed his Wonder Weasel boxer shorts, which were at least in keeping with the rest of his borrowed outfit.

"Ooh, Mr. North is _not _going to be happy about this."

Dressed in his own custom-made Wonder Weasel costume, Rufus simply chattered in exasperation, echoing Kim's frustration at the delay.

Kim zipped up her Ferret Girl outfit and frowned. "Here, let me take a look."

Quickly grabbing a needle and thread, she swiftly completed an emergency repair of the offending tear.

"There, that oughta hold for the evening."

"Thanks, KP. What would I do without you?"

Kim offered him a wan smile. "Ron, you know I love you, but sometimes I'm actually tempted to let you find out the answer to that question."

Ron looked aghast. "Kim, don't even joke about something like that! I can't live if living is without you, you know that."

Kim sighed. "Well, old pop songs aside, let's get going. Tonight isn't going to be just fun and games, especially after we got that tip regarding Drakken and Shego. They're planning some kind of heist from the Middleton Institute of Science and Technology. And with MIST's annual costume ball and fund raiser tonight, this gives our archenemies just the excuse to wear some kind of disguise to infiltrate the facility."

"Yeah, and on Halloween, their trick could turn into quite a treat if they succeed."

Kim's eyebrows shot up at Ron's clever remark. "Good one, Ron. So, since the party starts in just fifteen minutes, we should get a move on."

She activated her wrist Kimmunicator. "Wade, any updates?"

Her young super-genius friend appeared, and gave her a smug smile. "Your timing is perfect, Kim. I just got confirmation that Drakken and Shego have just rented a unicorn costume."

Kim cocked an eyebrow. "A unicorn? You mean a horse with a horn? Even for them, that strikes me as sick and wrong."

Wade continued. "Well, it was the last costume that the store had, which might explain it."

"Thanks, Wade. We'll stay in close contact until we apprehend them."

"Ooh, KP!" Ron exclaimed. "I bet I know who's going to be wearing the head, and who's going to get stuck wearing the unicorn's …"

Kim cut him off quickly before he could finish. "Yeah, Ron, the unicorn's rear end. No way would Shego agree to that, so at least we know which end will be which."

"Yeah, but which half will be wearing the wings?"

Kim shook her head. "No, Ron, that would be a Pegasus. Unicorns don't have wings. You need to keep your mythical beasts straight."

"Mythical?" Ron huffed. "They're as real as you or I, Kim!"

Kim simply rolled her eyes in response. "Sure, Ron. And the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot play pinochle every Saturday."

Ron shook his head. "No, they actually can't stand each other, Kim. And Bigfoot really prefers poker over pinochle. I learned that in my cryptozoology class that Mr. Barkin subbed for last semester. He replaced Ms. Oglethorpe after she mysteriously disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle during Spring Break."

"Uh, riiiight." Kim decided that she had had enough of legendary creatures for the moment and began running toward the door. "Okay, last one to the car's a rotten Gorgon!"

As they all raced to Kim's Sloth SL coupe, a pair of glowing red eyes watched them from the bushes as they climbed into the vehicle and drove off into the night.

* * *

_Drakken's Lair, 8 pm._

Meanwhile, a particular blue-skinned villain and his henchwoman were having issues of their own. Back at their lair, Drakken was having more than just a little difficulty with his half of the costume.

"Arghh! These legs are just too tight for me, Shego. I really think we should reconsider who wears which half of this."

Shego raised a hand in protest. "Not a chance, Dr. D. There's no way I'm going to be the rear end of this thing. Besides, the front legs are just as tight. I can barely fit inside this ridiculous outfit myself while still wearing my bodysuit."

Drakken finally forced his other leg inside. "Only a temporary inconvenience, Shego. We just need to get inside the Institute, then we can ditch the costume."

Shego was still extremely non-plussed. "So tell me, what are we trying to pilfer this time? You _know_ this is my day off, and I'm missing yet another really good Halloween party. You owe me _big _time, mister."

Drakken grinned evilly. "Not to worry, Shego. It's called the Ultra Genomic Sequencer, a new and improved version of DNAmy's clever device. It has tremendously improved memory capability with all theoretically possible combinations of DNA already formatted, so DNA sampling is no longer necessary. I'll now be able to custom build my own super soldier, then clone as many as I need to take over the entire planet!"

His voice rose in diabolical glee. "This is quite conceivably my greatest take-over-the-world scheme, ever!"

Shego quickly added, "Yeah, and if I had a nickel for every time you've said _that_, that just might cover all the back pay you owe me for the past year."

Drakken airily waved aside her snarky comment. "Yes, it's true that my cash flow dried up a bit during my last stint in Cell Block D, but there's no problem this time, Shego. This will just be a quick grab and then you can be on your way to your party, I assure you. You won't even miss the cocktail hour, I promise." He crossed his heart in a gesture of supplication.

Shego folded her arms and muttered in response, "Yeah, famous last words …"

Each now having donned their own half of the clumsy costume, they awkwardly climbed into Dr. Drakken's air car and began their flight toward the Middleton Institute of Science and Technology.

* * *

_Middleton Institute of Technology, 8:10 pm._

By the time Kim and Ron arrived, the college-hosted party was in full swing. Students and teachers alike were costumed as either their favorite creature or sci-fi fantasy character. Several were dressed as Corpulons from the TV show _Space Passage _and were toasting each other with steins of faux blood beer, while singing horridly off-key renditions of Corpulon musicals. Others were dressed as the evil cybernetic Berg, and wandered around humorously threatening the other guests. One such student approached Kim.

In his mechanically altered voice, he declared, "Parties are irrelative. You will be amalgamated."

"So not," she sighed, immediately fearing what geekiness she'd be looking forward to if she decided to attend college here next year.

Ron instantly made a beeline for the hors d'oeuvre table, while Kim tried to spot anyone even slightly resembling a unicorn. After a few moments she joined her BF for a glass of punch, while Rufus joyfully scarfed down another cheese pizza roll.

"Well, Ron, no dice here. We better check the hallways in case Shego and Drakken broke in another way."

"Sure thing, KP. I'll just use my ferrety skills to foil our fiendish foes! Right, Wonder Weasel?"

Rufus responded with a cheerful "_Uh-huh! Uh-huh!_" while Kim just rolled her eyes.

They had just turned to go when they were blocked by a large silver robot with a hooded visor, obviously meant to be Gorth from the classic 1950's sci-fi movie, _The Day the Earth Still Stood_. The costume's occupant flipped open the visor to reveal its wearer.

Kim immediately recognized the teacher underneath. "Professor Allenford!"

"Yes, Kim. Thank you so much for coming! Like my costume? It took me over a week to finish it!"

She hesitated, but immediately played along. "Uh, yeah, spankin'! So, can you show us where you're keeping the device that you need us to protect?"

He put a finger to his lips to quiet her as he whispered, "Shh! Keep your voice down, Kim. No one but me and Justine Flanner knows that the Ultra Genomic Sequencer is being kept here until it can be moved to another secret lab in an undisclosed location. Come with me."

They both followed Prof. Allenford out the side door and down the hall. As soon as they had turned the corner, however, Kim spotted what looked like a unicorn trotting down the other hallway.

"Ron! There they are! After them!"

Kim and Ron raced after their apparent foes, quickly cornering their prey at the end of the hall, which was fortunately a dead end.

"All right, you two! Off with that silly outfit, and hand over the Ultra Genomic Sequencer!"

But instead of hearing an evil taunt from Drakken or a snarky comment from Shego, the creature before them simply reared up, pivoted around and disappeared right through the wall. With a bright flash, it was gone, as if it had never existed.

Kim's mouth hung open in shock as she touched the still solid wall. "Ron, exactly what was it that we just saw?"

Ron cautiously replied, "Uh, Kim, either someone seriously spiked our punch, or else I think we just saw a unicorn. A _real _one."

Rufus fearfully jabbered, "_Uh-oh …_"

* * *

**_To Be Continued …_**


	2. Chapter 2

__

_Thanks to Eddy13, screaming phoenix, Mr. Wizard, whitem, Katsumara, CajunBear73 and Liselle129 for reading and reviewing. And if you leave a review, you'll get a reply. No tricks, what a treat! _

_And now, the thick plottens …_

_

* * *

_

Kim immediately tried to rationalize the vision that she and Ron had just seen. "Well, Ron, we've had run-ins with possessed snowmen, prehistoric dinosaurs and fifty-foot tall poodles before, so I guess seeing a real unicorn is so not the drama in the larger scheme of things."

Ron was still amazed. "Yeah, but it was _real! _I know I've always believed in them, but to really see one is totally badical!"

Kim agreed, forcing herself to suspend her disbelief. "You're right, Ron. But this means Drakken and Shego are still on the prowl, and the Ultra Genomic Sequencer is still in jeopardy. Come on!"

She turned and raced back down the hall, with Ron and Rufus close behind. They quickly met back up with Professor Allenford, who hadn't moved very far from where they had left them, especially since his large, clunky costume nearly prevented him from moving at all.

Kim apologized, "Sorry about that, Professor. It was just a little wild goose chase."

Under his breath, Ron muttered, "More like a mythical equine chase, if you ask me." This earned him a quick poke in the ribs from Kim before she continued.

"By the way, Professor, have there been any, uh, unusual sightings of strange, mythical animals around here lately? Especially since you've had the Ultra Genomic Sequencer?"

The professor unsuccessfully tried to scratch his chin through his helmet. "Well, now that you mention it, there _have_ been a few, but I just chalked those up to mischievous students pulling a harmless Halloween prank. And come to think of it, those sightings began just two days ago, immediately after we received the sequencer for study."

Kim shook off the chill she had just felt. "I think we need to take a closer look at that device, Professor."

A minute later they entered the room where the sequencer was being kept. The room was not empty, however. But this time, they all could tell that the unicorn that stood before them was only a costume, and there was absolutely no doubt about which two villains were currently wearing it.

A muffled curse was heard. "Oof! Shego, I can't see a thing back here!"

"And it's a good thing, too, Dr. D. If you could, I'd be afraid you were checking me out, which is definitely _not_ in my job description."

With her costume's head blocking much of her forward vision, she tried looking down to get a better view of the room, when she spotted the Ultra Genomic Sequencer sitting within its special cradle. She also noticed three pairs of feet now standing in the doorway. She raised her head and saw a rather incongruous sight: the Fearless Ferret with Wonder Weasel perched on his shoulder, Ferret Girl, and a rather large robot.

Briefly startled, she yelled, "Dr. D, we've got company!"

Kim smirked, "Move away from the sequencer, Shego! You guys are totally busted!"

Both villains immediately tried to extricate themselves from their costume, but only succeeded in collapsing on the floor in a heap, hopelessly entangled.

"Aw, the heck with it!" With one powerful whoosh of her plasma, Shego incinerated the costume and prepared for battle.

Drakken complained, "Great, Shego! There goes our deposit."

Ignoring Drakken's whining, she snarked at Kim, "Well, if it isn't little Miss Priss and her entourage of geeks."

Without batting an eye, Kim shot back, "Gee, Shego, I always thought only virgins could handle unicorns. I stand corrected."

Shego's face flushed from both anger and embarrassment at Kim's insult. She immediately fired up her plasma, and with a yell charged into the attack. Kim easily avoided the whoosh of plasma-charged hands, but Professor Allenford wasn't quite as lucky. He received the full force of the attack meant for Kim and went down with a terrific crash, pinning Ron painfully to the floor in the process.

"Ow! Ow! Heavy sci-fi robotic badness!"

"Ron!" Kim yelled. She tried to roll the professor off of him before he was totally crushed, but the costume was not only heavy, but bulky. This gave Shego just enough time to grab the Ultra Genomic Sequencer and blast a hole through the outer wall. Drakken's air car was waiting just outside.

Drakken quickly jumped in. "Well, Kimberly Ann, those costumes are certainly _all that_, but if you'll excuse me, I have a little date with my _creative_ side."

Shego swiftly followed. "Bye-bye, Princess! Catch you nerds later on _TV Trash Heap!_"

And with a cackle of triumphant laughter and a whoosh of the air car's engines, they were gone.

Kim slammed one gloved hand into the other. "nnNNGGHH! Just great!" Quickly turning back to her friends, she asked, "Is everyone all right?"

"A-OK, Kim." Ron and Kim helped Professor Allenford back to his feet, but not without getting a portion of Ron's outfit caught on a sharp edge of the robot costume. The sound of a large rip followed, and the refreshing coolness of the evening breeze once again graced Ron's boxers.

"_Oh! Oh!_ They are _so _going to pay for this!"

Raindrops began to pour into the room from a storm front that had just moved in from the west.

Ron continued to whine. "And now I'm _wet!_ And _cold!_ And …"

Kim sighed. "_So_ got it, Ron. Let's get your spare clothes out of the SL Coupe so we can go after Drakken and Shego. We've got to stop them before they can use the Ultra Genomic Sequencer. C'mon!"

The storm quickly became more intense. A clap of thunder was heard, and lightning flashes lit up the parking lot where the Sloth SL Coupe had been parked. But as soon as Kim and Ron got to the car, they made a horrifying discovery.

"Ron! What happened to my car? It looks like something stepped on it and smashed it flat!"

"Yeah, a _big_ something. Look at the size of those footprints, KP!"

Two large indentations in the soft, wet earth beside Kim's wrecked vehicle hinted at both the size and type of creature.

"Those look a lot like dinosaur footprints, Kim. Like that wrongsick monster that DNAmy created with her first Genomic Sequencer a while back."

"Well, there's one way to find out." Kim activated her Kimmunicator. "Wade, I need you to scan this footprint and compare it to the ones made by that dinosaur that went on a rampage here two years ago."

"Right away, Kim." A bright blue light flashed out from the Kimmunicator, scanning the huge imprint.

"Correlating now …" Wade's fingers flew over his keyboard. "Hmm. Good news and bad news, Kim. They're both about the same size, but it's not an exact match."

"So it couldn't be the same dinosaur that we finally trapped with Justine Flanner's Kinematic Continuum Disruptor, and maybe escaped somehow?"

"No, Kim. This one has claws."

Another lightning flash streaked across the sky, lighting up the footprints. Ron's eyes went wide. "Uh, Kim, I think I know what made those now. It was the only footprint question I got right on that pop quiz Barkin gave us after just the third day of our cryptozoology class. I really should have gotten the question on the Sasquatch, but I accidentally got it confused with the Yeti, which is kinda similar, so …"

Kim sighed. "Focus, Ron. Please and thank you?"

Ron simply stated, "Kim, it's a dragon."

Kim scoffed, "Oh, Ron, there's no such thing as … as …" Her voice faded as she realized that this was now a distinct possibility.

Wade agreed. "He could be right, Kim. There appear to be three distinct talon imprints within each impression."

Ron added, "And look: there are only two footprints next to your car, and no other tracks. It's as if it …"

A terrifying screech was heard up in the sky. Another lightning bolt flashed across the sky, silhouetting an enormous flying creature with long, leathery wings.

"… as if it took off right after trashing the SL Coupe."

The dragon gave out another horrifying screech. It circled once more before heading due west.

Kim watched the huge beast recede into the distance. "Wade, it's definitely a dragon. And we just saw a unicorn a few minutes ago. Could DNAmy have created them somehow?"

"Let me check." He quickly typed in a request into his computer, and got an immediate answer. "No way, Kim. She's still safely locked up in a padded cell at MARIC."

Kim looked puzzled. "Uh, MARIC? What's that?"

"The Middleton Asylum for Relatively Innocuous Criminals. I just got the memo from Global Justice."

"Thanks for checking, Wade. Since the SL Coupe is wrecked, we'll need a ride to Drakken's lair. As soon as you can find one, have them meet us at my house in about a half an hour. Please and thank you?"

"I'm on it, Kim," Wade replied as he signed off.

Kim huffed, "Well, Ron, it's still a mystery who created these things or why, but our first priority is Drakken. Let's go home and get changed."

As Kim and Ron slipped back inside to hitch a ride home from one of the costume ball's partygoers, a dark creature arrived and stared at them from behind a low wall. His red eyes angrily blazed as his brow furrowed in frustration.

* * *

_The Possible Household, 8:45 pm. _

Kim hastily changed into her battle suit, while Ron donned his usual mission clothes.

"Well, Rufus mah man, too bad we couldn't still wear our Fearless Ferret outfits while we try to capture Drakken and Shego. That would have been coolio!"

"_Coolio!_" Rufus agreed as he gobbled down one last cheese hors d'oeuvre that he had saved from the party.

Kim smiled. "Yeah, and let's try hard _not_ to rip these clothes or lose your pants this time? I guess I really need to get you a good belt." _A strong, spankin' indestructible belt,_ she thought.

_Beep-beep-BEE-beep!_

Kim quickly answered her Kimmunicator. "What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Hey, Kim! I thought you might have already been on your way, so I guess you're just … _dragon_ your feet!"

Kim smirked, "Funny, Wade, but you know we don't have a ride yet. Any luck?"

"Sorry, Kim. Not this time. Everybody's either at a Halloween party, out trick-or-treating or handing out candy themselves."

Kim frowned. "That's so not good, Wade."

"It gets even worse. I've located Drakken's new mountain lair about thirty miles west of Middleton. But with the sudden rainstorm that just passed through, I've been getting reports of flooded roads and washed out bridges everywhere between here and there. Unless you can swim real well, you won't be getting to his lair by any ground route."

Kim tried to think of another solution. "Okay, how about Global Justice? They could fly us there, no big."

Wade shook his head. "Bad news there, too, Kim. The huge electrical storm that accompanied that cloudburst has somehow interfered with the navigation systems on all of GJ's hoverjets. They're all grounded until further notice."

Kim growled in frustration. "There's got to be _something_ we can do, Wade! I know I'm the girl who can do anything, but I have to admit that this sitch is totally beginning to annoy me!"

"Sorry, Kim. If I come up with anything I'll let you know right away."

Kim frowned deeply as she closed the connection. "Ron, what we need now is a miracle."

Suddenly, Kim heard the whinny of what sounded like a horse just below her bedroom window. Kim and Ron stared at each other for an instant before rushing to the window and quickly tearing open the curtain. Below them stood the perfect answer to their prayers. Gently pawing the ground with its hooves, the animal softly gleamed in the light of the full moon which had just come out from behind a cloud. Their jaws dropped as it spread wide its beautiful white wings.

Ron raised both eyebrows in wonder. "Well, Kim. There's your Pegasus. Think it'll hold all three of us?"

* * *

**_To be continued ..._**


	3. Chapter 3

_Many thanks to those who have read and reviewed so far: screaming phoenix, Eddy13, Katsumara, Mr. Wizard, Liselle129, CajunBear73, whitem, and readerjunkie. And if you leave a review, you'll get a response in your trick-or-treat bag!_

* * *

Kim and Ron raced down the stairs and out into the front yard, fearful that the Pegasus would disappear just as suddenly and mysteriously as it had appeared. But they needn't have worried, as the mythical creature still stood there waiting patiently for them.

Rufus cautiously sniffed it to make sure it was real, receiving a soft snort back from it for his efforts.

Kim carefully walked up to it, gently stroking its head. "Hey there, fella. Nothing to worry about, no one's going to hurt you."

It began to neigh and whinny, and Kim immediately backed off, fearing that she had somehow spooked it. On the other hand, Ron fully understood what was happening and walked right up to it, neighing and whinnying himself. The Pegasus nodded his head twice and replied in kind.

"Kim, his name is Markab, and he's volunteered to take us to Drakken's lair. And he won't have any problem carrying all of us."

Kim was amazed. "Ron! You can speak _Pegasus_?"

Ron shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure, Kim. The vocabulary is similar to Horse, but the dialect and accent are slightly different. It's just _human_ languages I have problems with."

Kim just stood there speechless as Ron climbed onto Markab's back. "What are you waiting for, Kim? Let's fly!"

Kim hesitated before climbing up. "Are you _sure_ this is safe, Ron? I don't want this thing to suddenly disappear on us while we're flying a hundred feet above the ground."

Markab neighed angrily at Kim, and Ron immediately cautioned her. "Ooh, Kim. Markab's not a thing, he's a Pegasus. And he promises he won't suddenly disappear on us."

Markab added a quick snort. "Uh, unless you call him a _thing_ again, that is."

Kim patted the Pegasus gingerly. "Sorry, Markab. This is just a real weird sitch for me. I hope you understand. Will you forgive me?"

Markab whinnied softly in response. Kim smiled, hopeful that she had at least briefly placated him. Ron gave her a hand up as they all got settled on his back.

Ron continued, "Besides, he says his mission is much too important to vanish on us."

Kim raised a questioning eyebrow. "_His_ mission? What about ours?"

Markab let out a low neigh as Ron nodded in understanding. "He says they're both one and the same. Stop Drakken and retrieve the Ultra Genomic Sequencer."

Kim's curiosity was now piqued. "Now we're getting somewhere. So, was Markab created by the sequencer? And if he was, who …"

Her question was cut short as Markab suddenly began galloping down the street in preparation for flight. "Okay, Kim, here we go. Hold on!" The Pegasus fully spread his majestic wings, and with one huge leap, they were airborne and began climbing into the cool night sky.

Kim activated her Kimmunicator. "Hey, Wade. We found ourselves a ride, but you'll never believe what it turned out to be."

Wade panned the Kimmunicator's camera back for a wide angle view. He suddenly coughed, nearly choking on the soda he was drinking. "Whoa, Kim! Is that a _Pegasus_ you're flying on?"

Ron called over his shoulder, "Ix-nay on the O-whay, Wade. I don't want Markab to suddenly stop in midair, y'know."

Kim smiled and acknowledged, "You got it, Wade. He just showed up in my front yard and volunteered to fly us to Drakken's lair."

"Well then, I guess you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, Kim!" Wade guffawed.

Kim, Ron and Rufus all offered up a mutual groan, while Markab simply snorted in disgust at Wade's terrible pun.

Kim asked, "Wade, can you scan our airspeed and give us an ETA at Drakken's lair?"

"No problem, Kim. You should be there in just about 2 hours. Good luck!"

Kim closed the connection as she snuggled closer to Ron, keeping warm as they silently flew over Middleton toward their destination.

* * *

_Somewhere west of Middleton, 9:15 pm._

"Hurry, Shego! Put the pedal to the metal, as they say. We've got to make it back to the lair in time for me to create my super soldier, before those meddlesome teens arrive to rain on my parade."

Raindrops began to patter against the windscreen of the open air car. "A little late for that, ya think? And I'm still picking up several rain squalls on the radar."

Drakken frowned. "It's just an idiom, Shego." He brightened up in anticipation. "But once I've finally created my evil masterpiece, Step 2 will be to create an invincible army of clones from the original!"

Shego just rolled her eyes. "Clones _again?_ I would've thought that by now you'd have given up on those creepy things. What are you now, 0 for 10?"

Trying to remain upbeat, Drakken declared, "Well, you know the saying, Shego. If at first you don't succeed …"

"Fail, fail again?"

"Stop being so lippy, Shego. Remember who signs your paychecks. And when I finally succeed, the first order I'll give my new army will be to destroy Kim Possible, _once and for all!_"

Shego angrily replied, "Hey, Dr. D. That's _my_ job!"

She jammed the throttle forward, but immediately hit some turbulence and nearly lost control of the air car.

Drakken yelled, "What are you trying to do, Shego, kill us both?"

She snapped back, "Hey, trying to drive here! And make up your mind: the faster I go, the more likely we'll crash!"

As they argued, Shego failed to notice a huge thundercloud directly ahead. Before either of them knew it, they were deep inside the pitch black cloud. That is, until a powerful lighting bolt shot out, striking the air car. Shego hastily pulled the vehicle out of the cloud, but the damage had already been done.

After a quick systems check, she breathed a small sigh of relief. "Well, the controls are ok, but the engine took a direct hit. We can still fly, but barely. We'll have to travel a lot slower, so we won't be getting back to the lair for at least another few hours. Happy now, Dr. D?"

Drakken just crossed his arms and fumed as they resumed their course back to the lair. But far below them, a small group of strange genetically-mutated creatures were following a signal emitted by the Ultra Genomic Sequencer, almost as if it were a homing beacon. Their frustrated creator was forced to follow close behind them, increasingly confounded over his inability to get them to pursue the one target he had specifically created them for: Ron Stoppable. But he smiled as he realized exactly who had stolen the Ultra Genomic Sequencer.

"Well, knowing the Skweeb, he and his girlfriend will be going after that mad scientist guy. So when we catch up with them, we'll just destroy them all! So forward, my evil minions! Revenge awaits!"

Compelled to follow the siren call of the Ultra Genomic Sequencer, the creatures bounded across the dark landscape with inhuman speed, eagerly anticipating the completion of their genetically-imposed mission of destruction.

* * *

_29 miles west of Middleton, 11:05 pm._

Kim and Ron felt exhilarated by the powerful west wind whipping through their hair as they flew high above the Colorado countryside. The strong headwind had slowed their progress somewhat, but they knew they were getting close to their destination. But the mystery remained as to where Markab had come from, as well as the origin of the other mythical creatures that had recently appeared. And although Ron had asked him, Markab had remained silent on the subject.

Soon the lights of Drakken's new lair appeared below them. "Look, Ron! There it is!"

Perched high atop a craggy mountain, the lair looked every bit as much like a castle right out of a Gothic horror story, complete with moat and drawbridge. Lightning flashed around them from a new storm front that had just arrived, and a steady rain began whipping around them.

Kim gave a low whistle. "Wow. Spooky much? Drakken has scored real high on the creepy meter this time."

Focused on Drakken's lair _du jour_, they failed to notice a much greater danger, hidden in the mist and closing rapidly from directly behind them.

"Yeah, that place would be so cool if it weren't going to …"

Ron's comment was cut off as a huge tongue of flame suddenly shot past them, narrowly avoiding them but still singeing their hair. Ron turned around in total fear. "Aah! Bad dragon! _Very bad dragon!_"

Markab immediately went into a steep dive, deftly avoiding the dragon's sudden attack. But the dragon was quite maneuverable for its size and hotly pursued the smaller Pegasus as Kim and Ron held on for dear life. With another mighty roar, he belched out another huge sheet of flame. This time it caught the tip of Markab's wing. The Pegasus whinnied in pain, spiraling toward the ground. He landed heavily, spraining his fetlock. Fortunately they had landed in a deep ravine which protected them temporarily from any further immediate attack. Kim and Ron jumped down from Markab's back, concerned over the condition of their new friend and protector.

"Are you okay, Markab?" Kim tried to check his foot, but he whinnied in pain.

Ron conversed with him for a few moments before turning to Kim. "KP, he says he's in a lot of pain between the injuries to his wing and his foot, but he'll survive. The bad news is he can't stay without drawing the dragon's attention to us, and he can't help us any further due to his injuries. But he said he'll send additional help real quick."

And with that, Markab vanished in a sparkle of pure white light.

"Well, Ron, I'm glad he'll be ok, but it's too bad he couldn't give us a little more detail about what we're up against. We're so in the dark, literally and figuratively speaking. What else could be out there waiting for us?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Drakken's mood had improved considerably once they had returned to the lair, but Shego was still peeved. Drakken unsuccessfully tried to placate her.

"Well, thanks for your help, Shego. Have fun at your Halloween party."

Shego frowned. "With the air car disabled? Not going to happen. So I might as well just stay here so I can gloat once your plan totally goes south, as usual."

"Shego! Have you no faith in my technological genius?"

She simply crossed her arms and glared at him.

Drakken grinned sheepishly. "Uh, never mind. I withdraw the question."

"Good call," she sneered.

Drakken proceeded to tinker with the Ultra Genomic Sequencer, while Shego kept herself occupied by recalibrating the closed–circuit TV and intruder alert systems. She was surprised when she spotted several children walking across the moat's drawbridge. One of them reached up and rang the doorbell, which tolled Big Ben's melody, but in an ominously minor key.

With a long-suffering sigh, she got up and answered the door. "Trick-or-treat!" chimed the precocious children, holding their bags open for the expected candy. A wicked smile broke out across Shego's face. She spoke but one word as she flared her plasma into life.

"_Trick_ …"

Screaming in terror, the children immediately dropped their bags and ran for their lives. Shego picked up one of the bags, checking its contents.

"Ooh, Butterfingers. My favorite."

She bit into the delicious candy, licking the chocolate from her claws as she closed the door and returned to her monitor.

Drakken had hardly noticed, being close to reconfiguring the Ultra Genomic Sequencer for his own nefarious purposes.

"Almost have it … and … _there!_" He flipped the switch, but what materialized on the metal table was a humanoid creature no larger than a Ken doll. It began berating him in a tiny voice, shaking his fist in anger.

"Oops. _Heh-heh_. A little too small for my purposes."

Making a quick adjustment, he threw the switch again. This time, the experiment was completely successful. An eight-foot high giant of a man appeared in the tiny humanoid's place, muscles rippling with tremendous strength.

"Ha-ha-hah! Success! Shego, in your face! Behold my super-soldier, ready to act on my slightest whim!"

Shego's jaw dropped in amazement. "Whoa, Dr. D! It actually worked! He's even bigger than Midas!" She licked her lips. "And even _more_ hunky, if that's possible …"

But as usual, Drakken's victory was destined to be short-lived. An enormous bolt of lightning suddenly struck the lair, overloading the castle's antiquated electrical system. As sparks erupted from the equipment, circuit breakers tripped all over the castle, but not before a huge arc of electricity shot out, hitting Drakken, Shego, and the creature. Their skeletons briefly lit up from the shock, leaving Drakken with singed hair, a blackened face and burnt clothing. Shego's hair had been changed from its long, dark sleekness into an electrostatically-charged beehive, its color now alternating between huge vertical streaks of white and black.

Dazed but still conscious, Drakken stared at the still form of the giant he had just created. While checking for a pulse, he put his head to the creature's chest and listened for any breathing. There was none.

He pounded the table in frustration. "No! It can't be gone! Not after coming so close! Shego, where's our emergency defibrillator?"

"Uh, it hasn't arrived from our old lair yet. It's not due to be delivered until sometime next week."

Drakken grabbed the chain attached to the table and began using the pulley to elevate the platform.

"Quick, give me a hand!"

Together they pulled the creature up until he was right next to the skylight far above them.

Curious, Shego asked, "What are you trying to do, Dr. D?"

"Nngh. Just something I saw in an old movie once."

Drakken pulled the rope opening the window, exposing his super-soldier not only to the stormy night, but also to the lightning rod that was immediately outside the window.

A huge bolt of lightning struck the lightning rod, shooting into the super soldier, restarting both his heart and respiration. It let out a roar of pain in response to the huge shock, but it had been revived.

Drakken yelled out in victory. "Shego! It's alive! _It's alive!_ _Ha-ha-hah!_"

Suddenly a huge thud was heard, its vibration resonating through the rock floor, as if something very large had just landed outside.

Drakken halted his maniacal rant at the sound. "Shego, what was that?"

Shego quickly checked the monitor, and was surprised at what met her eyes. "Uh, Dr. D, there's a dragon on our front porch."

Drakken seemed perplexed, which seemed to be the usual state for him these days. "What? I haven't created any dragons. Perhaps it's something left over from the prior resident? But I must say, it _is_ a nice touch. Maybe it will keep Team Possible out of our hair until I'm finished here."

* * *

_Outside Drakken's lair, 11:45 PM_

Carefully climbing through the dark, Kim and Ron had finally made their way to the castle's entrance. They stood just beyond the lowered drawbridge and prepared to fire their grappling hooks at what looked like a dimly lit second story window.

"Well, Ron, I don't know what kind of help Markab was planning on sending, but as long as we can get into the castle, it looks like we won't need any."

Ron noticed some movement just on the other side of the bridge. "Uh, Kim, I think you spoke too soon …"

The dragon had spotted Kim and Ron, staring at them with his glowing yellow eyes. Although he could sense that the Ultra Genomic Sequencer was within the castle just behind him, his genetic programming now attracted him more to the human targets standing before him. Letting out a loud roar and spreading wide his huge leathery wings, he rose up on his haunches and let loose a terrible blast, aimed directly at Kim and Ron.

* * *

_**To Be Concluded ...**_


	4. Chapter 4

_My continued thanks as always to all who have reviewed: whitem, CajunBear73, JCS1966, Mr. Wizard, Eddy13, and Katsumara. And to everyone for reading! And now for the conclusion ..._

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"Quick, Ron! Get behind me!"

Kim activated her battle suit's force field, and not a moment too soon. The dragon's flame struck her head on, only to bounce harmlessly off of her powerful shield. The dragon was clearly surprised that Kim and Ron weren't immediately incinerated, and swiftly launched another fiery attack.

Kim noticed right away that her power levels were starting to drop. "I don't think my suit can take too much more of this, Ron. Any ideas on how we can defeat this thing?"

"Well, if I had a sword, I would defend fair maiden, slay the evil beast, and win her hand in marriage."

Kim cooed, "That's ferociously romantic of you, Ron, but I don't think having a toasted boyfriend would be too much fun."

"It wouldn't be for me either, KP."

Ron continued to crouch behind Kim as they endured another withering attack. He snapped his fingers as he suddenly came up with an idea.

"But forsooth, a _magical _sword would be totally coolio!"

Recalling his adventure back at Yamanouchi, he closed his eyes and concentrated, calling for the one mystical item that might help them. A few moments later, his earnest wish was granted. The Lotus Blade appeared before him, glowing blue with otherworldly power.

He smiled victoriously. "It's time for the Year of the Monkey to defeat the Year of the Dragon, KP!"

He plucked the sword out of the air and immediately tried to rush the dragon, but another burst of dragonflame once again forced him to take cover behind Kim.

"My power's down to less than 50%, Ron. I'm afraid we're going to have to retreat, at least for the moment."

Ron snarled, "Not on my watch! But I think I may have another idea."

Holding the Lotus Blade tightly in his grip, he next tried to change its form. First, he tried a crossbow. He fired a magical bolt at the dragon, but the dragon easily incinerated it before it could reach him.

"Wow, that used to work all the time in _Everlot_. But maybe if I try fighting fire with fire …"

Turning it into a mystical flamethrower, he shot a powerful blast at the dragon. Again, the dragon deflected it with another fiery blast of his own.

Ron grimaced. "Well, that didn't work. You have any ideas, Rufus?"

Rufus nodded as he pulled out a marshmallow, a piece of chocolate and a graham cracker, skewering them together onto a small, sharp stick. At the next breath of dragonflame, he held out his tiny concoction which was immediately toasted to perfection by the dragon's fiery breath. Popping the delicacy into his mouth, he declared, "_Mmm! S'mores!_" and rubbed his tummy in satisfaction.

"Not exactly what I meant, little buddy …"

Kim warned, "My suit's down to 25%, Ron! You've got one more chance before that dragon toasts our biscuits!"

A sudden brainstorm hit Ron. "Of course!" he declared. "Why didn't I think of it sooner? Up to now I've only been thinking about how to attack it instead of just trying to disable it. Time for me to snuff this dragon's candle, KP!"

Changing the form of the Lotus Blade one last time, he stepped out from behind Kim and fired. But this time a torrent of effervescent water shot out, immediately extinguishing the dragon's flame in a terrific cloud of smoke and steam.

"Ron! _A fire extinguisher?_ That's totally spankin'!"

"Just the power of imagination, Kim. Booyah!"

Rufus chimed in with his own tiny booyah as the dragon unsuccessfully tried to restart his flame. Frustrated at being unable to continue his attack, he took off into the sky with a terrifying roar.

"Great job, Ron! I'll just have to start calling you Ronald the Great, Dragonslayer of Middleton!"

Ron bowed deeply to Kim. "I have defeated yon dragon, m'lady." With a grin he continued, "Now let's go kick some villain butt!"

Suddenly, they heard a strange howling in the distance. And it was growing closer.

Rufus froze with fright and stammered, "_Werewolf_ …"

Kim asked, "Werewolf?"

Ron shook his head and pointed alternately in the direction of the howl, then at Drakken's lair. "No Kim, _there_ wolf. _There_ castle. So we all better get inside quick before whatever that is catches up with us."

Kim just rolled her eyes as they both fired their grappling hooks and began scaling the castle walls.

* * *

_11:50 pm_

"Okay, Dr. D. Emergency generators are online, and we should have power back right about … now!" Shego flipped the final circuit breakers, and the lights flickered back on.

Drakken rubbed his hands together in evil glee. "Excellent! We're now ready for Phase 2: the creation of my super army with which I will conquer the world!"

Drakken carefully dialed in the proper settings, and after a few careful adjustments, threw the main switch. Cauldrons of syntho-goo began to bubble, flowing through transparent pipes and into the cloning chamber. Huge arcs of electricity shot out between the machine's two gigantic electrodes as the process began. The ding of a simple timer indicated that the first clone was now complete.

"A kitchen timer? A little anti-climactic, don't you think, Drakken?"

Drakken spun around in surprise. "Kim Possible!"

Kim smirked, "Yup, still my name, and still your nemesis."

"How did you get in here? I just installed a state-of-the-art intruder alert system!"

Shego grumbled, "Which was completely off when the power was down, Dr. D."

He shrugged in resignation. "Hmm, that explains it, I suppose. Well, Shego, go do, that voodoo, that you do … _so well!_"

Shego launched quickly into the attack with several kicks and slashes which Kim deftly avoided. She noticed right away that Ron wasn't present, and couldn't help making her usual snarky remark.

"So, Kimmie, no luck trick-or-treating tonight with the _Fearful Ferret_?"

Taking one look at Shego's hair, Kim shot back, "Looks like we had better luck than you had at the hair stylist, Bride of Drakkenstein!"

Shego responded with a yell, along with volley of plasma bolts. Kim swiftly performed a backflip onto a table, easily avoiding Shego's attack.

"So, where's your boyfriend, Princess? Tummy ache from too much Halloween candy?"

A muffled yell was heard from the air vent above.

"Aaah! Spiders and bugs! Get 'em off me!"

Ron fell through the rusty air duct and onto the floor, covered from head to foot with dust and cobwebs.

"Eww! When was the last time you cleaned your ventilation ducts, Dr. Drakken? You know all that dust wreaks havoc with my allergies!"

Drakken replied apologetically, "Well, we just moved in, and I really haven't had time to give the place a good cleaning yet, especially with everything else that I've been …"

He stopped just as soon as he realized who he was talking to. "Arghh! I don't have to explain this to _you_, you're just the sidekick!"

He snapped his head toward the super soldier and its newly created clone. "Grab them both! Quickly!"

With blinding speed, the two creatures lunged at Kim and Ron, grabbing them tightly in their viselike grip.

Drakken gloated, "Hah! So it appears that my new creations are _all that_, Kim Possible! Shego, chain them up!"

Ron moaned, "Sorry, KP. Those super dudes were just too fast for me."

Kim sadly replied, "Me too, Ron. I just hope Markab's help arrives soon, or this _will_ be so the drama."

"Yes, this will indeed be _so the drama_, Kim Possible," Drakken cackled. "Especially when I turn you and your boyfriend sidekick into mindless super soldiers. How ironic that you will both shortly become part of my army of world conquest! Ha-ha-hah!"

Just as Shego finished chaining them up securely, a sudden loud pounding was heard at the front door.

Expecting to see more trick-or-treaters, Shego took a look at the monitor. Instead, she was surprised to see a rather motley group of strange creatures trying to break down the front door.

"Looks like an angry mob, Dr. D." She took a closer look. "They don't have torches or pitchforks, but they do look pretty ugly in those Halloween costumes."

Ron could also see the monitor, and did a double take. "Those aren't costumes, Shego. Those are mutants! _Very bad mutants!_"

With a huge crash, the door was splintered into tiny pieces by the mutants as they rushed into the laboratory. Ron gasped as he recognized each and every one, his worst nightmares now a terrifying reality. The first was the werewolf they had heard earlier, followed by a frightening creature from Level 13 of Mutant Ninja Zombies IV. A dozen mutant squirrels angrily chattered away, their enhanced claws ready to slash him to ribbons. Eyes blazing red with anger, Bobo the mutant chimpanzee shrieked wildly.

Ron only managed to squeak out one word. "_Wannaweep_ …"

Following them in was the last person that Ron ever expected to see again. His scaly body glistened wetly as his red eyes glared at him in triumph.

"It's been a long time, _Skweeb_."

Ron began to regain a little confidence, recalling that he had defeated this particular nemesis twice before.

"Not long enough, Gill!" Ron angrily replied. "I thought your dad had turned you back into a human. But here you are, all mutanty again. What happened?"

Gill's large fishlike mouth opened wide into a ghastly smile. "I found out about the Ultra Genomic Sequencer from one of my dad's friends at the Middleton Institute of Science and Technology. It sounded like just the ticket to help me regain my mutant form. Then I figured, why stop there? Why not create some friends who would help me exact my final revenge on you? We've been chasing after you all night, and now we find you _and_ Kim Possible here, all tied up like a wonderful Halloween present!"

He grinned even wider. "It's trick-or-treat time, _Ron_. Except it's now both _my_ trick and _my _treat!"

Drakken harrumphed, "Now, just a minute, Bill. These are _my_ prisoners, and if anyone is going to be exacting any revenge, it's going to be _me_."

Gill shot back, "That's _Gill_, not _Bill_, and just who in the heck are you?"

Drakken puffed out his chest and declared ostentatiously, "My name is Dr. Drakken, mad scientist and soon-to-be world conqueror, and this is my sidekick, Shego. And this is _my_ castle, and you _will _be paying for that door you just busted down."

Gill mocked, "Oh yeah? You and whose army?"

The kitchen timer dinged once again, and a third super soldier stepped out of the cloning chamber, joining the other two who had just stepped up beside Drakken and Shego.

With an evil chuckle Drakken replied, "How about _these_ for starters? Soldiers, attack!"

At the same moment, Gill also commanded, "Attack them, my minions!"

The forces immediately squared off against their opposite numbers. The two super soldier clones promptly engaged the ninja zombie and the werewolf in hand-to-hand combat, while Gill took on the original.

Emitting an ear-piercing scream, the enraged Bobo attacked Drakken. Within moments, his blue coat was torn to shreds as he furiously tried to bat away the crazed simian. Meanwhile, a dozen mutant squirrels assaulted Shego, who promptly dispatched several of the evil creatures with a few well-placed plasma bolts, but not before several had gotten into her new beehive hairdo. Screaming in frustration, she desperately tried to shake them loose, but to no avail.

Kim and Ron could only look on helplessly as they futilely struggled with their chains.

Ron bemoaned, "Well, KP, it looks like we're either gonna get changed into mutants or mindless super soldiers, depending on who wins this fight."

Kim growled, "Not if I can help it, Ron."

By now, Kim had been able to free one hand and proceeded to carefully retrieve her laser lipstick case. She quickly began burning through her chains, melting her bindings into red hot slag.

"Just a few more seconds …"

But no sooner had she cut through her own chains and started on Ron's, when the clock struck midnight. As each chime sounded, an amazing sight began to form before their eyes. A scintillating glimmer appeared next to the Ultra Genomic Sequencer, and swiftly coalesced into material form. The beautiful creature emitted a brilliant white glow, and neighed softly as it touched its single horn to the device.

Ron whispered, "Kim, don't look now, but I think Markab's help has just arrived."

Kim could only look on in wonder at the amazing apparition. The unicorn lifted its head to look directly at Kim and Ron, and quietly neighed once again. Ron neighed back in thanks.

The battle immediately stopped as all eyes turned toward the unicorn. The sequencer immediately began to glow softly, then ever brighter, accompanied by a loud, steadily increasing hum. It then began to emit a slowly expanding bubble of rainbow-colored energy. As soon as the bubble touched one of the mutants, the creature immediately disappeared, evaporating into thin air. The fierce battle was over almost before it started, and the mad screams of Bobo and the squirrels echoed into nothingness. The original super soldier met a similar fate, while the clones created from it simply dissolved into a puddle of bubbling green goo.

Only three people were left standing before Team Possible: an astounded Drakken and Shego, and one very surprised and frustrated teenage boy, now back in his human form.

Gil looked down at his now human hands and cried out bitterly, "No! It can't be! What's happened?"

Kim smiled in triumph. "Looks like Halloween is over, Gil."

"And that makes our running score Good Guys 3, and Gil _zip_," Ron smugly added.

Shego turned to Drakken and acidly said, "And that makes _you_ zero for … well, I've lost count of how many of your clones have bit the dust in the past, Dr. D. I _knew_ I should have gone to that party tonight while I still had the chance …"

Ron continued, "And all thanks to Artemus, of course."

Kim was amazed. "Ron, you speak _Unicorn_, too?"

Ron shook his head. "Not really. He's got a different dialect from Pegasus, and his accent is terrible, but I can still understand him pretty much."

Kim laughed. "Well, thank you, Artemus. We really appreciate your help."

As Artemus whinnied back, Ron smiled. "He says to think nothing of it, KP."

Artemus trotted over to Kim and rubbed his head against her hair, also allowing Ron to scratch him beneath his bearded chin. He suddenly lifted his head and sniffed the air as he cantered over to Drakken and buried his head into what remained of his coat pocket. Within it Artemus found several lumps of sugar left over from his morning coffee. He didn't seem to mind being right next to Drakken, but when Shego approached him, he reared up with a mighty whinny and refused to let her approach.

Kim was astounded. "Well, Drakken, I would have never guessed." She began to giggle. "Strike that, I actually _should_ have guessed that. So, it looks like Ron and I aren't the _only_ ones here who can handle unicorns."

Drakken wasn't sure if he should be embarrassed or not at this rather personal revelation. "Well, uh, it's just that my past relationships have been rather, er, well …"

For her part, Shego simply crossed her arms and tsked, "Yup, I should've known." Then she huffed, "And by the way, Princess, that just means I've got a little more experience than you in certain areas, that's all."

Not wanting to press this obviously touchy issue any further, Kim turned back to Ron. "So what's the sitch with Artemus and Markab? They're obviously real, and not a mutation created by the Ultra Genomic Sequencer."

"Let me ask." After a brief back and forth conversation, Ron said, "You're right, Kim. They're absolutely real. But since the sequencer can create any conceivable DNA sequence, that would include a Pegasus, a Unicorn, or any of their enemies. And that would have threatened both their mythical status and potentially their very survival. So, they were assigned to either disable or destroy the sequencer. Artemus was about to do just that when we spotted him back at the institute."

"And that was just when Drakken and Shego grabbed it. So what do we do now?"

Artemus neighed a few times in response, and Ron translated. "No problem, KP. He's already removed the programming of any potentially dangerous DNA sequences from it, so he doesn't need to destroy the sequencer now. We can keep it."

"That's spankin' news, Ron! Now all we have to do is return the sequencer to Dr. Allenford, and turn these villains over to the authorities, and …"

Kim looked up, but Drakken, Shego and Gil were nowhere to be seen.

Kim frowned. "Uh-oh. Looks like they've given us the slip."

Artemus whinnied in a way that almost sounded like a laugh.

Ron smiled, "Not quite, Kim."

Just outside, the three defeated villains were quickly making their way across the drawbridge.

"Hurry, Shego! If we can just make it across, you can flame the bridge with your plasma, which should slow down Kimberly Ann and crew just long enough for us to make our escape. And I don't think we'll need to worry about this little pipsqueak either, now that he's human again."

Gil just glowered back in silence. However, something else was glowering back at them from across the bridge, something huge and scaly. With a terrific roar, the dragon sent the three scurrying in total fear back into the castle.

White as a ghost, Drakken whimpered, "We surrender! Just don't let that thing eat us!"

Kim and Ron had a good laugh as she activated her Kimmunicator. "Mission accomplished, Wade. We've got the sequencer and captured Drakken and Shego. Oh, and Gill too, who was the reason behind, uh, most of the creatures."

Wade beamed, "That's great, Kim! And Global Justice just called. They've just made their hoverjets operational again, so I'll have them come by and pick you all up. They should be there within just a few minutes."

Kim turned to Ron, who strangely seemed a little down. "Well, that just about wraps it up, but why the long face, Ron? We recovered the Ultra Genomic Sequencer and captured the bad guys."

Ron sighed, "I know, Kim. But now it's past midnight, and Halloween is over. No more T&T action for a whole 'nother year."

Rufus moaned sympathetically, realizing that he was out any additional treats as well.

Kim pulled Ron close and kissed him on the forehead. "Cheer up, Ron. You know that Smarty Mart will have its half-off sale on Halloween candy tomorrow, and that's even on top of your employee discount."

Ron shrugged. "Yeah, but it's just not the same, KP."

Kim chuckled. "Maybe not, but at least I don't have to worry about us wearing that unicorn outfit at any time in the future. Not after Shego fried the only one in town."

Ron looked over at Artemus, who simply smiled and nodded in agreement, then vanished in a sparkle of light.

Ron began to perk up a bit. "I guess you're right Kim. And we found out that unicorns, dragons and pegasuses, uh, pegasi, are real! Booyah!"

"Yeah, Ron. I have to hand it to you, you were sure right about that. But it's probably best not to mention this to anyone else, especially now that there's no physical proof left."

Ron smiled as he nodded in agreement. "Yup, Kim, it'll be our little secret …"

As the GJ hoverjet arrived, no one noticed a few of Markab's burnt wingfeathers being blown by its backdraft into the calm and clear moonlit skies over Middleton.

_**Finis**_

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_A/N: And with a tip of the hat to a few of my favorite Mel Brooks movies, we've reached the end of this zany romp. And in case any of you were wondering where I came up with my mythical creature's names, Markab is one of the brightest stars in the constellation Pegasus. Artemus is the male spelling of Artemis, the Greek deity whose chariot, according to some myths, was pulled by eight unicorns. Not tiny reindeer. But that's another story …_

_So until next time, keep the faith, gentle readers!_

_MA_


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